The head of one of Venezuela’s most infamous criminal groups was shot dead by security forces after managing to avoid government efforts to capture him for many years.
Deiber Johan Gonzalez, also known as “Carlos Capa,” was killed on March 7 during a police operation in a mountainous area of Ocumare del Tuy, in Miranda state, not far from Caracas, according to the Interior Ministry. publication.
Carlos Capa Gang
A local journalist confirmed that two other unidentified members of the criminal group, likely bodyguards, were killed alongside Capa.
For ten years, Carlos Capa’s gang extorted money from merchants and farmers in the Valles del Tuy subregion, as well as committed scams through Facebook’s Marketplace platform.
Carlos Capa had become a top target for the Venezuelan government, which offered $150,000 for information on his whereabouts. In October 2023, his criminal record placed him on the list of the country’s 10 most wanted criminals.
InSight Crime Analysis
After evading authorities for years, Carlos Capa has joined the list of criminal leaders who have been pursued and killed for refusing to adhere to the rules imposed by the Maduro government on Venezuela’s criminal underworld.
Carlos Capa established his criminal group in 2015 and strengthened it by forming alliances with members of the communities where he operated and by corrupting police officials. These connections allowed him to evade security force operations against him on multiple occasions.
In 2015, he was a target of Operation Liberation of the People (Operación de Liberación del Pueblo – OLP), a major operation against criminal gangs in various Venezuelan states, in and around San Francisco de Yare, the capital of Miranda state. Then, in September 2022, he was the target of Operation Trueno IV, conducted in the Valles del Tuy, which resulted in at least 20 deaths and 30 arrests.
In addition to being assisted by the security forces, Carlos Capa took advantage of the territorial benefits offered by Valles del Tuy, hiding in makeshift camps, also known as cambuches, situated in hard-to-reach mountainous areas, according to local residents and security officials who spoke to InSight Crime during field investigations.
Due to his extensive criminal notoriety, Capa was the target of a manhunt, which he repeatedly evaded thanks to support from the local community, corrupt police forces, and the geographical advantages offered by the Tuy Valleys.
The Future of Venezuela’s Hybrid State
Carlos Capa’s death is the latest in a series of criminal organizations persecuted in Venezuela. While some groups receive protection from the Maduro regime as part of a system of hybrid criminal governance, those that resist the government find themselves being pursued.
Among those who have been taken down are significant criminal leaders such as Carlos Luis Revete, also known as “El Koki,” leader of what was the most powerful gang in the Cota 905 in Caracas, who was killed in February 2022; Carlos Enrique Gómez Rodríguez, also known as “El Conejo,” who died during an operation by security forces in Sucre; and members of the 10th Front of the ex-FARC mafia, a dissident group of the extinct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – FARC), in the region near Apure.
The crackdown on Carlos Capa’s gang is the first of its kind this year as the Maduro regime gets ready for the presidential elections in July. The operation is likely aimed at enhancing the government’s reputation and its questionable security strategy.
“Fighting crime is always going to be a strong point to gain supporters, especially in populist governments,” stated Ezequiel Monsalve, legal coordinator of Defiende Venezuela, a human rights organization, to InSight Crime.
However, the regime’s large-scale operations have been troubled by accusations of human rights violations, and in areas like Cota 905 in Caracas, there are increasing reports reports that security forces have taken control of extortion.